I feel like I haven't seen you two in ages!

This is true, I haven't been around as much. Largely due to work pressures and, well, Wallybee. How's the Midwest treating you?

The Midwest is freaking cold, is how it's treating me. Not as cold as it is where Windsparrow and Daniel are, of course, but single digits in Fahrenheit are no fun at all, especially when one needs to leave the house in the next half-hour.

Wallybee is a perfectly decent excuse for not being around as much. She truly is a lovely woman.

Anne! It's very nice to see you, too.

We have one degree F this morning. It's not a nice temperature at all.

I have no such good excuse as a Wallybee to explain away my absence. We've been getting the children and I new glasses (of which Aidan broke his the second day of having them). I love mine. They're rectangular and a dark reddish coppery brownish color wire frames with magnetic sunglasses that snap to the frames if I get them anywhere close.

I also had my annual pelvic exam and made my doctor laugh whilst scraping, which was not particularly fun nor intended. I am on the third series of antibiotics, this time 500 milligrams of Levaquin for 21 days, which means my wrists are a bit fragile (always get a carpal tunnel flare up when I take levaquin), and I have to schedule a mammogram, get my cholesterol checked, get blood work done for my remicade, schedule my remicade, and squeeze in a CT scan of my sinuses. I've also been working, though not nearly as effectively as I'd like.

I'm not whining. I'm actually feeling quite well right now. I just get sort of startled when I realize how much work goes into making me feel quite well.

{Cass}

{P-C}

It is 17º here. High of 24º, low of 8º. Mmmm. Winter. I think I shall make some hot chocolate. I then have to plan for 8 bajillion hours because I inherited my own classroom (yay!) and it's the beginning of a new semester tomorrow (yay!) and that means I have lots of prep work to make this semester run more smoothly than last semester (boo!)

Wallybee is a perfectly decent excuse for not being around as much. She truly is a lovely woman.

Good point! On which note, I started up Chinese lessons again today. Feels good, it's a lot of fun. Wallybee says my pronunciation's improving (it helps a lot being able to practise with her). Oh, and apparently she has a particular case worker in charge of her visa application. I like this, it's useful to have a point of contact, and she seems to be pretty helpful so far. Now as long as we can explain that whole 'met on the internet' thing...

{Cass and P-C}

It looks like you and Wallybee were having a blast, billytea—yay!

It's in the upper 30s here, right now, and likely to get up to 50. The arctic airmass that has most of y'all shivering is supposed to come through here tonight. Good timing, that.

We have one degree F this morning. It's not a nice temperature at all.

You have a degree? I wish I had a root and a degree.

(-5 here.)

FTR, Ghiradelli Drinking Chocolate makes delicious hot chocolate very, very easy. I'm not sure it's any better than my normal method, which involves cocoa powder, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sugar, and a saucepan on low heat, but it wins for only taking 60 seconds and a microwave (I did add cinnamon, though).

I wouldn't pay for it on my own, as a canister that makes like 5 cups costs Way Too Much Money, but as a gift, I approve of it wholeheartedly.

I'm not sure it's any better than my normal method

My normal method is to open a package of swiss miss. I may be lacking in the hot cocoa skill set.

I wish I had a root and a degree.

I am probably going to smack myself about the head when it's explained to me, but I don't know what this means. Perhaps it's time I went back to bed.

Cass, one of my favorite Millay poems

Oh, God, I'm an ass. I'm sorry, Cass. {{Cass}}

Seriously, your mother's just sheer Idon'tknowwhattocallit but damn, is just unbelievable. Moms are supposed to want their kids to be happy first and foremost.

I like waking up to happy billytea pictures. Nice.

Mmm, want cocoa.